“A few words must now be said about the Lenten colours. The use of plain white linen marked with red or black crosses, &c., has already been alluded to. This use was akin to that of the Lent veils for pictures, images, crosses, which in England were generally white. Those rules which prescribed black, violet, &c., were at the utmost fulfilled only by the use of coloured vestments and altar frontal on the Sundays, and even on Sundays the white was used by some churches.

“This use of white linen for Lent was practically universal in the sixteenth century and earlier: it was in fact the one colour use to which there was hardly any exception. Plain white stuff, fustian, linen, or canvas, with crosses, roses, or other devices of red or purple, was used to cover pictures and ornaments, as well as for vestments, for frontals, riddels, and other hangings. The parson who tries it will find that it is as popular and as readily understood now as it was then.

“In churches which are well arranged and decorated this Lenten white looks extremely well, if care is exercised in the choice of a good toned white (such as brown holland is), and of the devices painted on or applied to the hangings. Churches where linen chasubles are used can keep their vestments for Lent when silk and coloured ones are introduced. In other churches it will be better to get vestments and hangings of brown holland or similar material throughout. The use of the Lenten white has the great advantage of distinguishing Lent from Advent (a season to which it has little resemblance), and from the season between Septuagesima and Ash Wednesday.”1

1. Percy Dearmer, The Parson’s Handbook: Containing Practical Directions Both for Parsons and Others as to the Management of the Parish Church and Its Services According to the English Use, as Set Forth in the Book of Common Prayer, with an Introductory Essay on Conformity to the Church of England (London: Henry Frowde, 1907), 125-26.

I will resume Ruminations eventually, but this summer I have been overwhelmed with 1) our national agony and 2) preparing a new book: The Once and Future Season: Sermons and Essays for Advent (Eerdmans). When I finish, I will resume Ruminations.In the meantime you can check me out on Twitter @flemingrutThank you so very much for your interest.Lord, have merc […]

I have run some of the same analyses on the Diocese of Washington, and have come up with some quite surprising results: although some of the aggregate numbers are similar, the details are almost entirely different. Let's start with some geography, and then some history. The diocese of Washington was carved out of the Diocese of Maryland because what at […]

Plainly and without question, both the hatred and prejudice expressed last night in Charlottesville and the attack on counter-protesters today are murderous acts. Neither the words nor the actions of these self-styled supremacists are protected by the Constitution. Nor is there any way in which to justify behavior of this kind as even remotely “Christian.” […]

Can you imagine what our congregations would be like if we kept God's words in our hearts? If we taught our children about God's great love for us as revealed in the scriptures? If we publicly proclaimed the scriptures?

There's been a lot of ink spilled in the last year or two on "fake news." It's been interesting to chart the development of the term, which began, originally, as an effort to identify the planting of actual fake news stories, either intentionally (through malicious intent) or unintentionally (through Seen a lot of sci-fi, but missed this […]

I think I’ve thought this out loud before, but it’s worth saying and pondering again… We have to recognize the reality that the church in America finds itself in. Our own church is shrinking. The age-cohorts of clergy should be … Continue reading →

A bee-friendly corner near West Square in Askeaton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017) Patrick Comerford While I was visiting the Hunt Museum last week and the exhibition of paintings by Jack B Yeats and Paul Henry, I noticed a small grassy area that is set aside and known as ‘The Bee Loud Glade.’This is a wild garden and the name and sign are the inspirat […]